Mercy
Mercy 'was a major character and the main antagonist of the fourteenth ''Dark Parables game, Return of the Salt Princess. She was the younger sister of Serafina, a water witch, and a royal guard to Princess Brigid. Mercy doesn't seem to be based on any fairy tale character, but she fills the role of the middle sister in The Princess Who Loved her Father like Salt. She seems to have basis from the mythology of alchemical homunculi. Appearance and Personality Mercy had the appearance of a beautiful woman with long blonde hair tied in a half-ponytail, fair skin and light blue eyes. While her sister Serafina was tomboyish in appearance, Mercy wore a light blue and dark blue dress with white sleeves and light blue shoes. She accessorised her outfit with a gold circlet across her forehead and detached white cuffs on her wrists. She did share one trait with her sister and that was that her nails were long and sharp like claws and colored in a shade of pink. Outwardly Mercy seemed calm, capable and intelligent, the polar opposite of her impulsive, emotional sister Serafina. This was a facade, however, as Mercy was consumed by only one desire: to fulfill her creator's wish to end the world. This made Mercy cold-hearted, manipulative and calculating, willing to kill without a second thought or shred of regret. If Mercy was loyal, it was only to her creator and the desire to make her proud. Because of her two-faced personality, her showing empathy or love appeared to be fake, as shown when she 'lamented' of her failures as a royal guard. History When King Henryk of the Grak Kingdom adopted Princess Brigid, he worried about her safety and entrusted the Royal Advisor to create the perfect guards. After much experimenting, the Royal Advisor created a pair of dolls who were loyal and obedient and had the ability to heal themselves. However, unbeknownst to the King, the dolls' first loyalty was to their creator, who needed the princess in her plan for revenge. The doll created with a mercury core, Mercy initially had no name but was eventually inspired to name herself after her heart material. For many years, Mercy and her sister Serafina guarded Princess Brigid and would grow to love her like a sister, although Serafina's love would be deeper - Mercy's first priority was always to fulfilling her mission. One day, Brigid came to Mercy for advice on how to answer the King's question about how much she loved him. Mercy suggested comparing her love to jewels, but Brigid was not satisfied with the answer and eventually responded that she loved her father as much as salt. To the shock of both the Princess and her guards, the King declared that Brigid was banished from the Grak Kingdom; Mercy and Serafina tried to convince King Henryk to change his mind, but their attempts failed. Not long after the princess was exiled, the Grak Kingdom Palace collapsed and Mercy was so badly injured that she remained in a coma for a century until she could fully repair herself. When Mercy awoke, she found the Royal Advisor was gone and with no other purpose, decided to fulfill her mission to turn the world into salt with the Salt Enchantment Ceremony. To complete the ceremony, however, would require Princess Brigid and so the sisters magically manipulated Nuada (who had been trapped in the salt mine with them) to find Brigid and drop a message telling her to return. Once Mercy heard that Princess Brigid had returned, she began searching the Old Town for her. When the Fairytale Detective was ambushed by Nuada, Mercy blasted him with her magic and interrogated the Detective before thanking her for saving Serafina earlier. Before she left, she gave the Detective a dagger to protect herself and a warning that the Old Town was not safe. Sometime later, Mercy met the Detective by the palace lakefront and asked her if she had finished her investigation. Informed that the princess wasn't well, the two decided to split up to cover more ground. Getting rid of the dragonflies, Mercy cleared the doorway for the Detective to get inside. When the Detective informed Mercy on Brigid's condition, she immediately went inside the gates to help get rid of all the dragonflies. When Serafina joined in, their powers still weren't enough to kill the dragonflies, so the Detective had to pitch in, too. Once the problem with the dragonflies was gone, there was a gap that separated the guards and Brigid. Mercy told the Detective to get the bridge to work so they could get to the other side. Once the bridge was lowered, a loud roar came before Mercy or her sister could reach Brigid. A dragon hovered before landing, the impact knocking her and her sister aside. Injured by Solais, Mercy lamented to the Detective she had failed in her duty of royal guard by allowing Brigid to be taken by Nuada. After she had repaired herself enough, Mercy and her sister began to search the Forest of No Return. However, the pair got lost and by the time they got out Brigid had discovered her father was dead and had released her dragonflies on the Detective. Using her water powers to wash the salt away, Mercy sharply reprimanded the Detective for not bringing Brigid directly to her guards. Under the pretense of wanting to contain the dragonflies, Mercy instructed the Detective to repair the fire and water circles needed to power the Salt Enchantment Barrier. No sooner had the Detective repaired the circles, Mercy and Serafina captured Brigid in the alchemist library. With Brigid in her possession, Mercy revealed her true colors and instructed Serafina to set the library on fire to kill the Detective. Taking Brigid deep underground, Mercy began to prepare for the Salt Enchantment Ceremony and Serafina vowed she wouldn't let anyone stop her; however, when her sister begun to sympathize with Brigid, Mercy killed her with an ice sword, coldly declaring she had always known Serafina was a failure. Mercy began the ceremony and had almost completed it when Nuada and the Detective stopped her with a fire bomb and Solais' fire breath. Greatly damaged with one arm blown off and her heart core exposed, Mercy nevertheless attempted to kill Nuada and Brigid with her ice sword. The princess, however, declared she would not let Mercy hurt anyone else and summoned her Daemon, Dracaena. The dragon-frog hybrid used vines to restrain Mercy and remove her core gem, deactivating her. Mercy's empty shell was buried deep in the rubble of the salt mine. Her heart probably got destroyed in the cave in, fully ending the curse on Brigid's Daemon. Powers and Abilities * '''Water Manipulation: Infused with the power of water, Mercy could manipulate this element at will and conjure it out of thin air to serve her purpose such as a water shield. ** Ice Manipulation: 'She could also control liquid temperature and create ice and conjure ice arrows capable of piercing a body, cold vapor, ice walls and an ice sword. * 'Longevity (formerly): Being an enchanted doll, Mercy could have possibly lasted for centuries or even forever, so long as her core isn't removed. * Endurance: '''Mercy survived being buried beneath a collapsing castle, though the impact made her fall into a century-long coma. * '''Healing Powers: Mercy can heal or "repair" herself of her injuries so long as the wounds aren't fatal or near her heart gem. * Teleportation (presumably): Like Serafina, who could teleport in a burst of flames, Mercy could likely teleport to different area by dissolving her body into liquid and materializing elsewhere. Relationships * Serafina (older sister/murder victim, deceased) * Sulfur and Mercury Prototypes (eldest sisters, deceased) * Princess Brigid (younger sisterly figure) * Nuada (enemy, deceased) * King Henryk (enemy, deceased) * Royal Advisor (creator, fate unknown) * Solais (enemy, extinct) * Fairytale Detective (enemy) Relevant Parables The Exiled Salt Princess '(''from Return of the Salt Princess) Once upon a time, there was a King who had only one daughter whom he loved very much. As time passed, the King grew old, but the Princess remained as young as ever. One day, the King asked the Princess how much she loved him. "Why is my father asking me this?" the Princess wondered. "Of course, I love him. He is my father after all. How can I express my love for him?" Now there were two guards whom the Princess loved as sisters. The Princess asked one of her guards, "What should I say?" "How about comparing him to gold?" suggested the guard. "It's very valuable, and you love the King just as much." The Princess felt that gold was not the answer. Then, the Princess asked her other guard, who was clever and level-headed. "How about comparing your love to jewels?" suggested the guard. "They are very precious, and you love the King just as much." The Princess was still not satisfied by this shallow answer. Finally, she arrived at her own answer. "I love you just as much as salt," the Princess told the King. "This Kingdom's wealth is built on salt. You are as precious to me as salt is to our Kingdom. More importantly, the power of salt has protected me since I was born, just as you have protected me," the Princess declared. The King replied, "Very well, let the power of salt protect you from now on. You are hereby banished from this Kingdom." Thus, the Princess was exiled and forbidden from returning to her Kingdom unless summoned by the King. No matter how the Princess and her guards begged and bargained, nobody could change the King's mind. The next day, the Princess left her Kingdom crying. The cold in the air matched the chill in her heart. Legends say that the King watched his daughter depart with mournful eyes. 'Sisters made from Sulfur and Mercury '(from ''Return of the Salt Princess'') Once upon a time, there was a King who worried about his daughter's safety and tried in vain to find suitable guards for her. Seeing his dilemma, his Royal Advisor told the King, "I will create for you the perfect guards - loyal, obedient, powerful, and with the ability to heal themselves." The King agreed, and the Royal Advisor, who was a witch, experimented with her magic, discarding many mud dolls until she finally created two perfect dolls. One doll has a heart of sulfur, and the other had a heart of mercury. The dolls were everything the Royal Advisor promised: loyal, obedient, powerful, and they had the ability to heal themselves of the most mortal wounds. However, what the King did not know was that the dolls' first loyalty was to the Royal Advisor, and not the King or the Princess. The witch commanded the dolls to guard the Princess, as the witch needed the Princess for her plan of revenge. The dolls obediently guarded the Princess as she grew up, and being around the Princess caused them to learn to feel human emotions. When the Princess asked them for their names, the dolls realized that their creator had given them no names. Thus, the dolls named each other, taking inspiration from the materials their hearts were created from. The dolls grew to love the Princess like a sister. However, no matter how much the dolls loved the Princess; they still remembered their first loyalty was their creator and that they were mere dolls, not humans. Their idyllic life was not to last though, for suddenly one day, the Princess left the palace. Not long after that, the palace collapsed, trapping the dolls. After many years, the dolls finally repaired themselves enough to wake up in the ruins of the palace. They found that the witch had left. Having no other purpose, the two dolls decided to obey their last orders and carry out the witch's plan for revenge. To do this, they would first need to find the Princess and lure her back to the kingdom. '''The Dragon Under the Salt Mine (from Return of the Salt Princess) For over a hundred years, the dragon was trapped under the salt mine. The longevity and toughness of his race meant that he did not die, but he was greatly weakened. One day, two dolls, who were created by an evil witch, found him. They used magic to make him do their bidding. He became a pawn in their evil plans. Trivia * The name Mercy means "compassion, pity, and forgiveness" - irony as Mercy doesn't show any of those characteristics throughout the game, especially in the ending. * At the same time, the name Mercy derived from the Latin word 'merces' which means reward or payment. That could reflect upon Mercy wishing to fulfill her mission and receive praise from her creator as the reward. * It is possible that Mercy's zodiac sign is Virgo, which means she was created sometime between Aug 23 - Sept 23. Quotes Quotes by Mercy * "You do not look like an inhabitant of this town. Who are you?" * "I see, you are a detective. I will introduce myself as well. I am Mercy, a royal guard of the Grak Kingdom." * "Out of professional courtesy, let me give you a warning: this town is too dangerous for humans right now." * "You have not left yet. Is your investigation not finished? You saw the Princess? Where was she? I know she is unwell. That is why I must find her immediately. Do me a favor and help me find the Princess. We will cover more ground if we search separately." * "The Princess has been captured by the King's sworn enemy. I have failed in my duties as her royal guard." * "Farewell, Detective. You should have heeded my first warning and left. No matter, soon everyone in this world will be dead." * "Once I complete my mission, I would be free to go search for my creator. I am sure she will be very proud of me." * "What a touching reunion. However, this is not over yet. Next time you see each other, it will be in hell..." Quotes about Mercy * "Mercy is just so smart and capable that most people mistake her for being the older sister." - Serafina * "It's Mercy. Did she just climb out of the rift? I didn't see her before. I should go talk to her first." - Fairytale Detective * "Mercy is the perfect one, not me." - Serafina * "From what I remember, the water doll is cold and calculating." - Nuada Galleries Character= RSP_Mercy_uses_her_powers.jpg|Mercy uses her powers RSP_Mercy_gives_Detective_a_dagger.jpg|Mercy gives the Detective a dagger RSP_Mercy_learns_Brigid_is_unwell.jpg|Mercy learns Princess Brigid is unwell RSP_Mercy_clears_the_gates.jpg|Mercy uses her powers to clear the gates of dragonflies RSP_Mercy_and_Serafina_battle_the_dragonflies.jpg|Mercy and Serafina battle the many dragonflies Mercy rests in courtyard.png|Mercy rests at the Courtyard RSP_Mercy_injured.jpg|Mercy injured RSP_Mercy_holds_dragonslayer_badge.jpg|Mercy holds dragonslayer badge RSP Mercy and Serafina in the forest.jpg|Mercy and Serafina in the forest RSP Serafina gives artifacts.jpg|Mercy tells Serafina to give the Detective the artifacts RSP_Mercy_and_Serafina_capture_Brigid.jpg|Mercy and Serafina capture Brigid RSP_Mercy_assures_Serafina.jpg|Mercy assures Serafina she won't harm Brigid RSP_Mercy_bids_Detective_farewell.jpg|Mercy bid the Detective farewell RSP_Mercy_stabs_Serafina.jpg|Mercy stabs Serafina RSP Final battle.jpg|Mercy performs the Salt Enchantment Ceremony RSP_Evil_Mercy.jpg|Evil Mercy RSP_Mercy_restrained.jpg|Mercy restrained by ivy RSP_Mercy's_core_is_removed.jpg|Mercy's heart core removed |-|Concept Art= RSP Mercy concept art.jpg|Mercy concept art Serafina and Mercy concept art BTGI.jpg|Mercy costume concept art from Blue Tea Games Instagram |-|Depictions= Sister portrait in gallery.jpg|Mercy depicted in group portrait with Serafina and Princess Brigid, Return of the Salt Princess Birthday Present.png|Mercy doll for Brigid's birthday present, Return of Salt Princess RSP Royal Advisor Serafina and Mercy portraits.jpg|Mercy's portrait with Serafina and the Royal Advisor, Return of the Salt Princess Dp14popup33.jpg|Mercy's depiction in the Royal Advisor's diary, Return of the Salt Princess Dp14popup46.jpg|Mercy's depiction in storybook #2, Return of the Salt Princess |-|Artifacts= Dp14popup34.jpg|Note written by Mercy |-|Other Images= Bandicam 2017-11-03 13-38-30-165.jpg|Mercy featured in "The Exiled Salt Princess" Parable image RSP Sisters made from Sulfur and Mercury parable.jpg|Mercy featured in "Sisters made from Sulfur and Mercury" Parable image Crystal Tablet.png RSP_Mercy_difficulty_button.jpg|Mercy difficulty level button DP14 wallpaper012 1920x1080.jpg|Mercy wallpaper DP14-Chara3.jpg|Mercy wallpaper #2 IMG 4392.JPG|Mercy in the beta screen Bandicam 2018-03-20 20-10-42-664.jpg Dark-parables-return-of-the-salt-princess feature.jpg 01fc103e44fd0c2586a1a7dc61f12676.jpg Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Dolls Category:Allies Category:Antagonists Category:Witches Category:Deceased Category:Return of the Salt Princess